^\)c latnuv's i\\onil]Uj bisxtor. 



83 



some interesting oliseiTalions in Mr. Schoolcraft's 



Report. "It \i>," he. says, " conrcclnd on all ham!.'! 

 that thi.s i.s a Uopical, ur at least, a MJiiihrni 

 plant." He remarks that it was not luiowii in 

 Europe hef'ore the iliscovtMy of tliis connlry, ami 

 that \vc learned the mode ol' cultivation from the 

 Indians, and not they (Voni us. "Jt was," he 

 says, "cultivated l>y the Iroipiois in large (ield.«, 

 and frave them a title to af;ricultnrists." It was 

 (Midoiihltdly lii;;hly prized as an essi nli.il artiele 

 of their support. Mr. Schnolcralt states that the 

 warriors ol' the Six Nations were in the hahit of 

 nndertaliins jonrm^ys ol' thons.-inils of miles in 

 extent, carryinj; no other Hiod than a little meal 

 from [i.arched ;md pimmled oorn, iel_\ in^' on the 

 forest liir meat. "C)iie tahle-spoonhd of this 

 meal," says i\Ir. r'., '• Uiixed wiih a little sn^ar 

 and water, will sustain a warrior for twenty-foiu' 

 hours, wiihont meat." What f;rain would do 

 more.' 'I'he art of converting the sap of the 

 maple into sugar, it seems, was known to the 

 Indians hefore iheir acquaintance with the whites. 

 I\Ir. Schoolcraft states also ih.-it thi: Irocpjois 

 cultivated aji indigenuiis kind of hean, which he 

 thinks may have heen " the same called /"ryo/cs by 

 the early Spaniaril.s." They iiad likewise, accord- 

 ing to .Mr. S., "some species of the cuciuhilu;" 

 pumpkins and squashes. — Cultivator. 



Signs of Itain. 



Some^eople desire a weather calemlar in their 

 altnatnics, fully believing, no donht, that the 

 weather may be tinetold by the (ihascs of the 

 moon. As far better, however, than any prog- 

 iiosti(!ations of such a kind, we copy the l<)llow- 

 ing, said to have been composed by Ur. Jenner, 

 as an excuse for not accepting the invitation of a 

 liiend to make an excursion with him: — 



1. Ttie hollow wind.>: be^in to blow, 



2. 'I'he clouds look blick, the gr.nss is low; 



3. 'j'iic sool I'jlls down, the spaniels tloep, 



4. And spiders frotn their cobwebs peep. 



5. Last ni^l)t the sun went pnle to bed, 



6. The tniion in h.Tlos Ijid her hend ; 



7. TI.e boding shepherd lieaves a si^ll, 



8. For, see, a rainbow spans the sky. 



9. The walls are damp, the ditches smell, 

 10. Clos'd is tlie pink-ey'd piinpernell. 



1 I. Hark ! how the chairs and tables crack, 



I-. Old Betty's joints are on the rack ; 



13. Loud quack the ducks, the peacocks cry; 



It. I'he distant hiils are lookin*^ nit^h. 



1.7. How restless are the snorting swine, 



11). i lie bu!.y li.es liisturb the l.inc; 



17. Low o'er the grass the swallow wings; 



IS. The cricket, too, how sharp he sings; 



ly. Puss on the hearth witii velvet paws, 



20. Sits, wiping o'er her whisker'd jaws. 



21. Through the clear stream the fishes rise 



22. And nimbly catch tlT incautious flies; 



23. The glow-worms, numerous and bright, 

 2t. Iliuni'd the dpwv dell In';! ni^ht. 



2j. At dusk the squalid load was seen. 



26. Hopping and crawling o'er the green ; 



27. The whirling wind ihe dust obeys, 



28. And in the rapid eddy plays; 



29. The trog has chang'd his yellow vest, 



30. And in a russet coat is drest. 



31. Though June, the air is cold and still ; 



32. The mellow blackbird's voice is shrill. 



33. My dog, so altcr'd in his tasle, 



31-. Quits mutton bones, on grass to feast ; 

 35. And see, yon rooks, how odd their flight, 

 .36. They imitate the gliding kite, 



37. And seem precipitate to Cull — 



38. As if they felt the piercing ball. 



39. 'Twill surely rain, I see with sorrow; 



40. Our jaunt must be put ofT to-morrow. 



From the Journal of .\2ricullure and Science. 

 ImproTcments in Irish Agriculture. 



BY IIE.NRT S. RANDALL, OF NEW YORK. 



A great improvement is taking place in the 

 agricidture of some districts in the north of Ire- 

 land, by a system of means novel, and not with- 

 out interest to American farmers. Tlie incentive 

 or impulse to these changes is given by the pro- 

 prietors to the tillers of the soil, partially by a 

 judicious distribution of bounties, calculated — 

 and this is most wisely done — as mtich to appeal 

 to the iiride — the esprit du corps — as to the pocket 

 of Ihe recipient: tmd the spirit thus awakened is 

 Imthered and sustained tis well as guided in 

 proper channels, by the employment of the ag- 

 riculturists of science and experience to counsel 

 and encourage the tenants, to see that each is 

 pioperly nolisej and rewarded for his improve- 

 ments, — in short, to exercise all the supervision 

 which the tenants will volunlnrih/ suhinit to. This 

 is far preferable to coercion through leasehold 

 stipulations. 



Foremost among the landlords who thus wisely 



sillily their own and their tenants' interest.^, is 

 the i-arl of (iuslonl, ivliose large estates lie in 

 the county of Armagh. And how ftivorahly does 

 this nobleman's condtict, in this particular, coti- 

 Irast with thtit of the scoi'es of titled absentees, 

 who treat the land that bore them as a compiered 

 province, to be diained of its initire income to 

 siipjiort the dissipations of the linglish and con- 

 tinental c.ipitals and uatering places! 



Among the scientific agriculturists, who, as the 

 employees of the latidliohlcrs, have done most to 

 improve the husbandry of the iiiirlh of Ireland, 

 lirst, prohalily, stands William lilaker, I0s(|., the 

 "agricullui-ist" of the Gosford and some other 

 estates. This gentleman, without claiming to 

 have heen the originator of each detail of the 

 system of husbandry advocated by him, prcdiahly 

 deserves the credit of uniting the several parts — 

 piiiclices dr.-iwn from various local systems — into 

 one homogeneous whole, adapted to the exigen- 

 cies of tli(,' section of Ihe country u hich his la- 

 bors are designed to benelit. And here let it be 

 remarked, in passing, that tlieskill ol' \\\a aduplcr 

 is scarcely second to that of the discoverer or in- 

 ventor. 'I'he same syslem, it is hut a liiiism to 

 .say, will not uoik eipially well under all circum- 

 stances. Skilfully to seize upon and connect, 

 from the great store-house of mind, or of phvs- 

 ics, the precise materials ailapted to onrotni winils, 

 is Ihe wisdonj of the wise man — the talent of the 

 able one. 



An occasional conespondence with iMr. Blaker 

 for several years, has kept me In some measure 

 advised of the results of his hibors. These are 

 shown in the proceedings of the annual Rlarket 

 Hill agrieiiluiral meetinv. But befoie proceed- 

 ing to discuss the relative merits of the neio and 

 old husbandry, let us gl.-mce at the organization 

 of this Agricultural Associiilion, and some of its 

 methods of doing bii.-iiucss. ifirils, not without 

 value to us, may, (leradvenlure, be gleaned from 

 them. 



I prpsnme from all that has met my eye, that 

 there is no inilialioii liie to the association — its 

 liniiis being entirely territorial ones — ^ihe Earl of 

 Gosford and another landholder, a brother of Mr. 

 Blaker's, payiii,!j all tlie premiiniis. These are 

 mainly of a character which makes the bounty 

 to a great extent an honorary one, such as splen- 

 <lid clocks, silver cup.*, &c. It wouhl be the 

 easiest tiling In the world to cant a little on this 

 snbji'ct by saying that money would he more use- 

 ful to the tenant. Tlie '^vnalest permanent benefit 

 the tenants derive fiom the system of reward.s, 

 wouhl be to make them good liirtners. This 

 would not only relieve the present wants, but, 

 with the ordinary blessings of Providence, would 

 guaid iigaiiisl the future. If a showy testimonial 

 of his victory, like an elegant clock, or a piece of 

 plate, will influence him more than money to 

 such a result, then it is iniquestionably better to 

 offer him the former. That the devisers of the 

 scheme understood well whom they had to deal 

 with, the result shows. I certainly have never 

 read of keener contests for agricultural superi- 

 ority than those of ihe teiianls foiiiiiiig this asso- 

 <-iation, nor, I will add, those that interested me 

 more. .Vnd tlici'e is another feature in this sys- 

 tem which appears to work well, and which would 

 be incompatible with money prenfiums. It is 

 this: The ownership of these clocks, etc., is not 

 secured by one victory. Tliree are necessary to 

 that end. The design of this, and it seems to 

 produce that effect, is to lead to sustained exer- 

 tions. Premiums, as commonly paid, often goto 

 reward a more desultory effort, or "good luck." 

 It is amusing to learn in the reports of the com- 

 mittees at the Market Hill meeting, and in the 

 published remarks of Mr. Blaker, the strong ex- 

 ertions of tlie victors of last year to maintain 

 their superiority this. After the last whirlwind 

 charge of the French at Waterloo — an empire 

 staked on the " issue of a die," and lost — Bona- 

 parte left not the disastrous field a more thor- 

 oughly defeated man, in his own estimation, than 

 some of the losers of these chicks and cups! 

 One brave fellow had done his utmost — hut a 

 trivial error in a nice point had robbed him of 

 victory. I can fancy his look of pride humbled, 

 of disappointment acutely felt hut manfully 

 borne ! This was too much ! Lord Gosport im- 

 mediately declaretl he should retain his clock — 

 and to the victor he awarded a still more expen- 

 sive one! Before dismissing this part of the 



snliject, it may be well enough to remark, how- 

 ever, that all the bounties or premiums are not 

 paid in this way. f^eeils, guano, etc., for the use 

 of the land, arc from lime to time distributed to 

 reward improvements.* 



1 have hitherto omitti'd to state the jiarlicnlar 

 objects for which these premiums are paid. They 

 are paid invariably, I believe, for the best man- 

 aged fiirni, inchidiiig all their crops, their proper 

 rolatiiin, their .•idapl.ilion to the greatest aniount 

 or maximum of production, without unnecessary 

 or improper exhauslion of the soil — stocks ofall 

 kinds — management of manures — permanent im- 

 provements, such as draining, fence.s, buililings, 

 &c., — in a word, the greatest improvement to ihe 

 farm and the greatest profit to the tenant. This 

 is no ddulit belter holh for landlord and lenaal, 

 in the circumstances in which these parties are 

 placed towards each other, in Ireland, than to pay 

 bounties on separate animals jind crops. 



The size of the farms of the great body of 

 the Irish tenants, would strike an American farm- 

 er with surprise. Perhaps the average would 

 not exceed ten English acres. But do tliese men, 

 if they have families, get a comfortable living on 

 these mere "patches" of land ,^ Ifwe may trust 

 the assertions of Mr. Blaker, they do — although 

 the land is in many cases of a very inferior quali- 

 ty, until improved by the tenant. 



The following table will give an idea of what 

 the land sn[iports: 



Stock on ten farms, containing 98 acres, 3 roods,^0 

 perches, on Lord Gosford^ estates. 



Contents 

 of Farm. 



Jl. R. P. 



a 33 



2 ad 



98, 3 SO 



One-half of the above land is under flax or 

 grain crops. 



Would a single farmer with bis family, in our 

 own country, make a living off the whole 98 

 acres, jifter paying a rent of £121 12s. 2d., — 

 .$583 90? Uiii|uesiionably not, under anything 

 like ordinary circumslances. Neither could an 

 equal amount of stock be kept on anything like 

 the same amount of even our best lands. It will 

 be observed that one-half of the 98 acres is tin- 

 der crops, very little of which reaches the stock, 

 besides the straw. Should we let the keep of 

 the horses, heifers, shee|>, pigs, and two of the 

 cows oflset against the straw, then we should 

 have 30 cows kej.t on 49 acres of land, — a cow 

 to an acre and a fraction less than two-thirds of 

 an acre I 



Whence this difference in tlis ncrcable pro- 

 ducts of the Ihiiled States and Ireland.' Is it in 

 the quality of thesoil .' The better class of New 

 York lands are decidedly superior to the 98 acres 

 above jiarticularized, if we may credit Mr. Bla- 

 ker, — that is, before the latter were recently made 

 over, so to speak, by the present system of cul- 

 ture. How then sixty human beings can obtain 

 subsistence, where in this country n single family 

 could not — over and above rent — is indeed sur- 

 prising. True, things which the American farm- 

 er would consider »!ccfs.5an''cs — things of course — 

 would be unapproachable luxuries to the small 

 Irish tenant, even under the ameliorating influ- 

 ences of a Gosford and a Blaker.f An American 

 farmer can eat of meat, wheaten bread, milk and 



* Large quantities of the seeds of such crops as it is consid- 

 ered important to introduce and extend, are also lent out to llie 

 tenants. On the Gosford and,Driirahanagher estates, says Mr. 

 Blaker, 42 busliels of turnip seed, 9 tons of clover seed, LIS 

 bushels of vetches, and .512 bushels of grass seed, were thus 

 lent to tlie smaller tenants during the past season. 



t Justice all round requires that I should copy the following 

 statement of Mr. Blaker, in relation to the holders of the ten 

 farms given in the table. He says: — •' the stock that these 

 small farmers are possessed of shows that they are by no means 

 in penury. I have chosen those who are living along the roat! 

 side, and if any one has the curiosity to visit them to-morrow, 

 I shall have a jaunting car ready at Mr. Itingland's, at Gosford 

 gale, to take thera to tiieir houses. No one, I e.\pect, will con- 

 ceive he is to meet with any great appearance of wealth — it i3 

 up-hill work to amass riches from a few acres nf laud, paying 

 a fair rent, and rearing a young family — but 1 believe every 

 one of them will be found in a thriving condition." 



